Earth's only hope to avoid the worst effects of fossil fuel use is to keep the worst offender -- coal -- in the ground and to act aggressively to stop the increase in atmospheric CO2 levels and then to reduce the levels to below 350 parts per million.  The current policy prescription in the rich countries -- the ones who industrialized first, and who have put 99% of the carbon into the atmosphere -- is that they intend to continue burning coal while telling the poor countries that they must avoid coal.  Naturally, the poor countries that are now industrializing (China and India especially) refuse to do what countries like the United States won't, and they point to the fact that even if their total emissions are higher than those from individual Western countries, their per capita emissions remain much lower.

Someone has to lead, and all moral and ethical principles require that those who caused the problem take on the challenge of responding first.  In Oregon, there is only one coal-burning power plant, in Boardman, Oregon.  Built without any Clean Air Act controls, the Boardman plant is not just Oregon's biggest source of CO2 emissions, it is also the largest Oregon source of mercury that enters the food chain and haze-forming compounds that are destroying visibility in the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area.

Oregonians are ready to lead, and leadership in this area means taking aggressive steps to conserve energy and reduce demand so that Boardman can be coverted from coal as quickly as possible, not when Portland General Electric can't avoid it any longer.

It's no longer reasonable or prudent for PGE to burn coal.  We need a change in law so that the Oregon Public Utility Commission is required, as a matter of law, to find that coal burning is not reasonable or prudent, which is the standard for permitting a utility to recover its costs from ratepayers.  We need to force the Oregon PUC to refuse any cost recovery for any coal-burning power plants after 2014 and to prohibit Oregon utilities from making any profit on coal-derived power imported from anywhere else.

And we need to increase the rate of return on low-carbon investments so that private utilities have the greatest possible incentives to invest in development and use of these vital energy sources.  In addition to requiring the Oregon PUC to refuse to allow any utility to recover any money spent on anything having to do with the use of coal, the PUC should create a bonus in the rate structure that rewards utilities for conservation and low- and carbon-free power that they deliver by giving them a higher rate of return on these sources.

Responding to the climate threat is not just an environmental issue -- future generations can't speak for themselves yet, but they will have to live with the consequences of our actions now, making climate stability the ultimate global human rights issue.  Oregon is well-positioned to establish the principles and legal mechanisms needed for an effective response to this grave danger.